Various devices are known in the art for assisting locksmiths and car dealers in unlocking automobile and truck doors when a door key is unavailable. In this regard, conventional locking mechanisms of vehicle doors generally comprise a door lock linkage housed within the door which extends from a manual locking mechanism actuated by a button or switch to a key actuated lock cylinder. Keyless door unlocking devices are generally designed to engage and selectively actuate the door lock linkage to effect the unlocking of the door. However, the location and orientation of the linkage differs among vehicles and heretofore different unlocking devices have been necessary for different locking mechanisms. For example, a notched metal strip commonly known as a "Slim Jim" is designed for vehicles having vertically oriented door lock linkages, but is ineffective in opening doors having slide locks with horizontal linkages. Further, devices such as the unlocking device of letters U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,866, with its flexible member and various similar devices on the market are effective for unlocking doors of medium thickness and having unguarded horizontally oriented lock linkages, but are not effective in opening doors with vertical linkages. Moreover, most prior art devices are frustrated by anti-theft guards and other such devices which have been added to vehicles in recent years.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an unlocking device for unlocking vehicle doors without a key.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an unlocking device for unlocking vehicle doors which will unlock the doors of a wide variety of vehicles, including vehicles with vertically oriented linkages and horizontally oriented linkages.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an unlocking device which is effective for unlocking vehicle doors provided with anti-theft guards, including window guards, linkage guards, shields provided on various locking systems, etc.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an unlocking device which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which obviate the need for purchasing a wide variety of tools to unlock vehicle doors having differing thicknesses and differing locking mechanisms.